The actress Gertrude Berg is little-known today, but her major accomplishments during the golden age of both radio and TV are quite remarkable. Now, however, she is back in the spotlight, thanks to a new documentary called "Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg."

An American fixture on radio in the 1930s and 1940s and on TV in the early 1950s was a show called "The Goldbergs." Gertrude Berg was not only the program's star, she also created it and served as head writer.

Focusing on a middle class family who lived in the Bronx, the show was a rarity in that it was very ethnic, featuring characters who spoke with a thick Yiddish accent.

Berg was a pioneer in creating the sitcom format, won the first Emmy Award for Best Actress and paved the way for women, not only in the entertainment industry, but in other high-profile careers as well.

Filmmaker Aviva Kempner, who also made the fine documentary "The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg," uses lots of archival footage to tell the story of Berg, a creative and entrepreneurial woman who wrote a bestselling cookbook, had a popular advice column and her own clothing line. Berg broke gender barriers in a era where most fields were dominated by men.

A wealth of interviews are interspersed throughout the film with former cast members, notable television producers and actors and even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who says that Berg "was no shrinking violet."

The movie juxtaposes the show's popularity on radio at the time of Hitler's rise in Europe and anti-Semitism in the United States. It also delves into how the "Red Scare" in the 1950s led to Berg's co-star being blacklisted as a Communist. Her valiant fight to keep him on the show ultimately hurt her career as well.

One wishes the filmmaker spent a bit more time on how when Berg was an unknown she was able to get a meeting with a major network and managed to get her show on the air. But this is a minor quibble. There's more than enough here to brings Berg's place in TV history to the forefront, making for a very interesting documentary. If you're intrigued like me by old TV history, check it out.

"Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg" opens in theaters this week.

Neil Rosen's Big Apple Rating: 3 Apples